NRC journalist Karel Smouter refuses to give interviews about his big sorry interview with Matthijs van Nieuwkerk. He doesn’t want it to be about him. “I turned down everything.”
The silence has finally been broken this weekend: Matthijs van Nieuwkerk has given his big sorry interview. Not on TV, but in the newspaper, namely to Karel Smouter of the NRC. “In recent months I cycled to Almen a number of times to speak with Matthijs van Nieuwkerk,” he says on X.
Interviews declined
Karel says he is ‘really inundated’ with reactions to the interview, but according to a strict follower he relates it too much to himself. This mister Willem says: “’Me, me, me’. Today’s journalism. No, the newspaper NRC sent you to Van Nieuwkerk. You are not important. It’s about the story. Good Lord.”
Karel then indicates that he does not find himself important in this story. “Okay, that’s why all interview requests have been declined. But I sent myself in this case anyway. ;-)”
Also some criticism
There is also some criticism of the interview here and there. For example, Johan Derksen thinks it contains too many theatrical passages. “Haha, those are also the journalistic authorities in the field of successful newspaper interviews,” Karel responds.
Angela de Jong agrees with Johan’s criticism, she said at Humberto. “Holiday for how it is written, although I found it to be quite theatrical pieces that I thought: get to the heart of what happened.”
And what does Tina Nijkamp think? “What I really missed in the interview is how his environment has been affected by all this, right? For example, his girlfriend who is very close to him and who has always been very supportive in her new career. That was not mentioned and I missed that very much.”
Criticism of photos
Many people agree about the photos accompanying the interview: Matthijs behaves too much like a vain person. Opinion maker Ton F. van Dijk says: “The photo is a pity in an interview like this where it is about what went wrong in raw reality. So why an ‘invented’ photo?”
If someone else also expresses that kind of criticism, Karel responds: “I think you are very quick to judge someone’s personality, based on a photo. Doesn’t reflect well on you.”
Prefer TV interview
Incidentally, many people are not satisfied with this sorry interview from Matthijs. “I missed that you couldn’t look him in the eye. I would have preferred a television interview anyway,” said Angela. “That I still have the idea that I can see the emotions from the couch. Now it is, however you look at it, a written interview.”
Humberto Tan fears the worst. “But if I read this piece correctly, that is not going to happen. He says, “The mirror stays in the room once. I look in the mirror once and it stays in the room after this interview, so I’m not going to go back to it again.’”
5.25 euros
In addition, Matthijs’ sorry interview is only available to a limited group, namely only to NRC subscribers and people who know how to get around the paywall. A TV interview is accessible to more people.
Purchasing a separate edition for just this interview is going too far, according to face mask crook Sywert van Lienden. “Are there really still people who regularly go to a shop to buy a separate paper edition of NRC for €5.25 (!) because NRC does not sell individual articles/editions online?”
Karel replies: “5.25 is the price of a specialty beer these days, so isn’t that crazy for a weekend newspaper, against current standards?”